New book chronicles history of Fort Macon

Published: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 08:25 PM.

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Fort Macon was used as a civilian and military prison for 11 years until it was deactivated in 1877, but the following year was manned again for the Spanish-American War.

The garrison was completely abandoned in 1903 and remained vacant for two decades, allowing weeds, briars and shrubs to nearly overtake it. It was given to the state for $1 in 1924 and became Fort Macon State Park. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps restored the fort, but in 1941, Army Coast Artillery troops manned the fort once more for the duration of World War II.

Following the war, the site was returned to the public, and it is today one of the most visited state parks in North Carolina.

Branch will hold a book signing from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Fort Macon.

The 128-page softcover book is available for $21.99 at www.arcadiapublishing.com or by calling 888-313-2665.

The brick walls of Fort Macon may not be able to talk, but a collection of etchings, drawings and photographs in a new book may go a long way toward telling the story of the 187-year-old military post.

“Fort Macon,” the newest addition to the Images of America series from Arcadia Publishing, was written by Paul R. Branch Jr., a park ranger and historian at Fort Macon State Park for the last 32 years. Branch is the author of two previous books about the historic garrison.

Branch culled through about 4,000 images in the park collection in addition to other collections and picked 200 images that carry the reader from the fort’s design and construction between 1826 and 1834, through the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, a two-decade abandonment, restoration by the Civilian Conservation Corps, use in World War II and re-establishment as a state park.

A four-page introduction serves as a foundation in which the high points in the fort’s history are laid out for the reader, but it is the imagery that fills in the details.

Branch provides copies of plans for the fort and introduces us to Nathaniel Macon, a North Carolina statesman and national political figure after whom the military base is named.

It took more than nine million bricks to construct the pentagon-shaped fort, its concealed casemates and emplacements for 54 cannons. With modifications in the 1840s, the job cost $463,790.

Though it had only intermittent use in the following years, the fort was seized on April 14, 1861, by the Confederacy two days after the start of the Civil War. The Confederates were forced to surrender the fort on April 26, 1862, following an intense bombardment from land and sea.

Fort Macon was used as a civilian and military prison for 11 years until it was deactivated in 1877, but the following year was manned again for the Spanish-American War.

The garrison was completely abandoned in 1903 and remained vacant for two decades, allowing weeds, briars and shrubs to nearly overtake it. It was given to the state for $1 in 1924 and became Fort Macon State Park. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps restored the fort, but in 1941, Army Coast Artillery troops manned the fort once more for the duration of World War II.

Following the war, the site was returned to the public, and it is today one of the most visited state parks in North Carolina.

Branch will hold a book signing from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Fort Macon.

The 128-page softcover book is available for $21.99 at www.arcadiapublishing.com or by calling 888-313-2665.